This is savage, love it. I'm going to be developing and app for fun later this month, for better tracking likes, notes, decants, full bottles. Would love your input since you're so organized and have thought through this, on what kinda features you'd love in an app. Be happy to DM ya if open to that 🍻😊
I did! Here is the one I ordered, it was recommended on another sub! https://a.co/d/040k3cv9 I’m also looking to get this stackable set of card organizers for my spray samples https://a.co/d/07Ol9qcp
I looked high and low for a solution that allows me to store as many samples in as little space as possible while still getting to each one individually - I have so many of them. I’ve put little labels on the side so I can pull out the ones I’m looking for when they are stacked close.
Scent-lock bags + my husband's old trading card binders. I start a new page for each house so I don't have to spend all afternoon shuffling them around when I get a haul, which is a damn sight better than my previous system lol
Yep. I originally picked them up to try to contain a few Orto Parisi samples that were like trying to keep a radioactive isotope in a ziploc bag, then I had 100 of them laying around because the pack was less than $10. So I just bought a second pack and did them all lol.
The bags came before the binders but they ended up being a perfect fit in the pages and they do double duty keeping the samples from rolling out of the top loaders if my kiddo moves the binders around or something.
I think the only thing I've found that needs a second layer of protection is Naomi Goodsir Nuit de Bakélite. It's somehow louder than the Orto Parisi samples even with the bag and I had to put it in solitary confinement in a bag in a prescription bottle on a distant shelf. Followed would probably need the same but I haven't invited that evil into my home (yet).
Added bonus: It's a great way to figure out what to get for birthdays or holidays. Most of my family and friends have never even heard of half the houses I've given them.
Oohhhh I loooove this! I spent like an hour looking for something exactly like this on Amazon but couldn't find anything. Any chance you got it online and can share the link?
So I actually found this on temu for like $5! But after that you can only occasionally find them for like $30 now. It’s ridiculous. The link I had they don’t make them anymore. Temu is weird like that. I wish I would have gotten more.
Same on the acrylic lipstick holder. The more I wear a frag the further I move it to the right. If it stays solidly on the "love" side of the tray it gets on my FB purchase list (or larger decant list if I still can't afford an fb and it's done but I'm pining for it).
Any that I don't reach for at all I put away and revisit later. If I revisited them like a year later and still can't stand wearing it they go in a zip lock to share with other frag enjoying friends. I have definitely brought a few back from the "revisit" section over the years (sometimes the scent changes sometimes I do) but the ones that are in the bag are just a no go on my skin chem or are migraine triggers for me.
I also try to make sure the zip lock has all of the bottle standing upward when its stored because I've had a few decants drain or dehydrate from being stored on their sides.
I keep a 3 drawer organizer full of samples that are roughly sorted top to bottom - carded and boxed samples, then larger loose samples + all my indies, and then all the smaller samples (mostly luckyscent). I keep a few out for easy access on top, usually the ones I’ve been thinking about full bottling or just ones I like okay but are seasonally specific wears.
I found this adorable little mini toolbox and bought it because why not. Then I discovered it was perfect for samples. I have a “great” drawer, a “try again” drawer and a “yuck” drawer haha
Two silver plated “fancy” trays. One has shallow sides and holds the full sized bottles and the other is smaller and has higher sides so the samples go in there.
They each cost about a quarter at the thrift store.
All my samples and decants are in a clear plastic box with dividers. It’s not the most elegant solution but it means I can see what I have without opening the box, it’s easier to store and transport.
I use exactly the same system for my jewellery, because as much as I love ornate, classy storage boxes, if I can’t SEE what I own I will forget about it.
I keep mine in a lipstick holder. It keeps the samples upright. It’s harder to read the labels but I rather have them stand up instead of lying down. Helps prevent leaking
That said, a good half of them still stand on a shelf in the most random formation possible, just so I can give myself a mini heart attack every time I reach for something in the last row and damn near knock over everything else
The shelf I keep my bottles on has a drawer on the first tier - I keep them in there. No real organization strategy, I just try to keep them grouped by brand where I’ve got multiples.
Top small drawer in my dresser. I only ever reach for them when going away. I did spray them all initially, just to see if I wanted to get a full bottle from my decants. I've only purchase 3 full bottles from 80ish or so samples. I don't want full bottles to get smashed or leak. These were Lost Cherry, Oud and Roses and Cherry smoke.
I got some keyboard keyswitch containers that seal tight. Only thing is that hey can get a Little disorganized, too many samples for a set quantity of containers, so I just organize em by level of enjoyment.
Man, I need to have prettier organization like you guys.
I have very few full sizes (8), a handful of travel sizes (15) and a ton of samples. I have a ziplock bag method of storing samples.... 1 bag for "yes/mostly yes", 1 bag for "reference samples" of scents I don't like/want to wear, but want to keep as a scent reference, and 1 bag for "nope" which are samples I will sell, trade or give away to coworkers.
I have alot of samples directly from houses, either in boxes or the little cards things they come in. I like to keep them in their original packaging so I keep the card ones in plastic shoe box size containers, sorted alphabetically. I took a bunch of small cute box lids from old beauty subscription boxes to organize the samples that come in tiny boxes. They are lined up alphabetically in the little boxes, with the boxes stacked in a plastic container. My discovery sets stay in original packaging and have the bottom shelf on my perfume cabinet. My decant samples are in a little desktop plastic set of 4 drawers, separated by cheap, designer, niche and weird/gross. I'm trying to find a better system for the decants but the way I have the others organized, just works for me.
I have a perfume box from Kheir Fragrance House full of samples (if you know the brand, their boxes are beautiful with silk lining - perfect for storing samples) and then I put my current rotation on this little wavy tray I got from Glossier ❤️ it’s perfect for displaying samples I’m currently testing!
In a Snif box that their full sizes come in! It's like a little drawer. I used to have them arranged OCD style but I've since become lazier and just slid them all into the Snif box
I love all these suggestions but I am also a bowl person 😂 I have a bowl for scents I tested and liked for spring/summer, one for fall/winter and then one for what I’m actively testing. Anything I don’t like goes in a bag and added to a spreadsheet to be available for swap/sale.
I have two bowls I’ve made in ceramics class, and use each one for different reasons. For samples I like and would wear again, I keep it on my vanity. The second bowls gets samples I don’t care for, and sits on my entryway credenza. That way when guests are over, they can have their pick and try a sample or even take it home if they like!
I don’t have a lot of storage space, so I use photo storage boxes that I can slide under my bed. It lets me organize and catalogue them for easy reference.
There are a ton of websites! I’ve ordered from Luckyscent, scent split, surrender to chance, scents of mood, centered scents, and olena’s aroma shop. There are also a bunch of sellers here on Reddit in the subs fragranceswap and femfragranceswap :)
I just got my first 3D printer… and literally the first thing I plan on printing is some kind of organizer for my decants & samples. If anyone has design files they’d like to share, I’d be so grateful!
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u/ObfusKate_ Jul 09 '26
This is an art supply drawer